As someone battling multiple myeloma, it is important to understand your treatment plan and whether it is working successfully on your body.
One of the first things to remember is, according to the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, there is no one standard treatment. An individual treatment plan is created based on the patient’s age, health, symptoms, complications, lab results, cytogenic tests, any prior myeloma treatment, lifestyle goals and characteristics of the disease.
Then, a discussion with the physician or healthcare team will yield the best treatment option for your body.
According to MMRF, destroying all evidence of the disease will require use of aggressive treatment that may have more severe side effects.
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But, you could choose to prevent damage to other organs by controlling the disease. Treatment for this goal includes side effects but they are more tolerable.
If you decide that you’d like to preserve normal quality of life for as long as possible, the healthcare team may go with minimal treatment. Another treatment option is providing lasting relief of pain and symptoms with supportive therapies that can help with managing complications.
READ: How Caregivers Can Help Multiple Myeloma Patients Manage 6 Common Problems
One last option is managing myeloma through remission, which may involve long-term therapy.
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Once you’ve gone through the treatment, physicians will watch your M protein levels and symptoms to determine your body’s response to the treatment.
READ: What To Do When Your Multiple Myeloma Treatment Stops Working
The M protein is the abnormal proteins of malignant plasma cells that could cause tumors, kidney damage and more. In some cases, according to MMRF, the malignant cells could cause a single tumor known as solitary plasmacytoma. If multiple tumors develop, the result is multiple myeloma.
Decoding Your Body's Treatment Response
Here is the range of responses that determine if your treatment is working well in your body.
The disease is progressive if there is more than a 25 percent increase in M protein levels, 25 percent increase of plasma cells percentage in the bone marrow and new bone lesions or size increase in existing legions.
A minimal response shows a 25 to 49 percent decrease in M protein.
READ: What Happens After Multiple Myeloma Treatment?
When a physician talks about a very good partial response, that means the M protein is no longer detectable in blood and urine but there was a positive immunofixation test.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, a molecular complete response indicates no detectable M protein in blood and urine, a negative immunofixation text and less than 5 percent of plasma cells percentage in the bone marrow.
According to MMRF, multiple myeloma is the second most common blood cancer. It is considered incurable, but very treatable with each advancement in cancer research.
